Hetty Green Biography

Business Leader (1834–1916)

Hetty Green was an American businesswoman who lived in the 1800s and was best known as one of the first women to make a fortune on Wall Street.

Synopsis

Hetty Green was an American businesswoman born on November 21, 1834, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The savvy financier was one of the first women to turn a fortune on Wall Street. She managed her own funds, invested in stocks and bonds and turned a $6 million sum into $100 million by the time she died. The media nicknamed the frugal businesswoman as “The Witch of Wall Street.” When she passed away on July 3, 1916, in New York City, she was believed to be the richest woman in America.

Playing the Stock Market

Financier Hetty Green was born on November 21, 1834, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Hetty Green was one of the first women to make a fortune on Wall Street. She started out with more than $6 million and turned that sum into $100 million by the time of her death. She married Edward Green, a silk trader, in 1867. The couple had two children. In an unusual twist for the times, Hetty and Edward did not combine their finances when they got married. A smart manager of her own funds, she became a major player at the New York Stock Exchange. She also invested in bonds and real estate.

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'Witch of Wall Street'

A favorite target of the press, Hetty Green was reportedly a woman with many odd quirks and penny-pinching ways. While she clearly lived quite frugally, it is hard to determine how extreme her miserliness was. She usually dressed in black and supposedly only had one dress, according to popular stories. She was nicknamed the "Witch of Wall Street” by the media and was even listed in the Guiness Book of Records as the world’s greatest miser.

Death

Hetty Green lived out her later years in inexpensive lodgings in Hoboken, New Jersey. When she died on July 3, 1916, she was thought to be the richest woman in America.

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